Page 199 of Obsession

He went to the sink to wash his hands.

“I was hoping this town would be a fresh start for us, that it would be quiet.”

I didn’t answer, just looked down at my knee, which I kept moving left and right.

“What did you skip school for yesterday? And why did three boys get into a fight because of you?”

Of course that bitch of a principal had called him.

“They weren’t fighting because of me, Dad. One of them… came on to me the first week and I turned him down, and now he hates me. Yesterday he messed with me and Harris beat him up. The third guy saw us and helped get him away from me.”

Well, they had clearly been fighting because of me, but it sent shivers down my spine thinking about the incident and that psychopath Joshua.

My father turned to me.

“What do you mean he messed with you? What did he do?”

The protective father returned, and I smiled.

“He didn’t have the opportunity to do anything, he’s a maniac. I think he’s still being detained.”

He muttered a curse.

“I’ll talk to the principal about it next time she calls. She didn’t mention any of this to me.”

I smiled cheerfully again because he believed me.

He pointed to the window.

“And you trust him?”

Harris had asked me the same question a few times last night.

“Yes, Dad.”

I knew there were a lot of things he wanted to tell me, but he didn’t.

“Are you doing drugs again?”

Ugh!

“I’m trying… not to. Actually, Harris is the only one who takes my mind off it completely. I’m happy when I’m with him, and I don’t feel the … Need for drugs.”

It was weird talking to my dad about it because we’d never talked about boys before, not even when I was with Roger. My mother knew everything, but he acted like Roger was some kind of seasonal flu that would soon pass, and he was really glad when it did.

Now he knew it was different, and he tried to be understanding.

Eventually, he just nodded.

“Just promise me again that you’re being smart about this, that you won’t let him influence you and that you won’t break your heart over him.”

Since that was also my biggest fear, I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded.

Even though he was dirty and smelled like smoke, I stood up and walked towards him, then hugged him.

“I promise,” I whispered into his shoulder, because he wanted to hear it.

He held me tightly and sighed into my hair.

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